After a years-long probe that investigators say was fueled by extremist rhetoric in private chats, Regan Darby Prater, the Tennessee man accused of firebombing the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market in 2019, has agreed to plead guilty in federal court, according to local reporting. Prosecutors say the blaze destroyed the center’s administrative building and wiped out archival material documenting decades of grassroots organizing.
Plea terms and charges
Under a plea agreement filed this week, Prater has agreed to plead guilty to two federal counts: malicious use of fire and attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, according to local reporting. Court paperwork cited by reporters describes the device as a napalm-style "sparkler bomb" and details negotiations over sentencing, with both sides agreeing that any prison term should not exceed 20 years. In filings quoted by local outlets, Prater wrote, "as i promised, enjoy. and for the hezbollah or other pals living in the zone; start the hunt," as reported by WBIR.
What prosecutors say
Federal agents and court filings say cellphone evidence and private group chats helped investigators tie Prater to the March 29, 2019, fire, and that a white-power symbol was spray-painted in the Highlander Center’s parking lot, as reported by the AP. A federal grand jury later indicted him on arson and explosive-device counts; the Department of Justice announced that indictment in May 2025, saying the blast consumed the administrative building. Prosecutors also say Prater set a separate fire at an adult video store in Manchester in June 2019 and was convicted in that case, which officials say helped investigators connect him to the Highlander blaze.
Highlander's history and losses
Founded in the 1930s, the Highlander Research and Education Center has trained generations of organizers and civil rights leaders and maintains an archive used by scholars and activists, according to the center’s website. The 2019 blaze destroyed the administrative building and years of records, a loss staff and supporters described as devastating. Coverage of the earlier federal indictment in May 2025 detailed the scope of the damage.
Alleged Hezbollah link and evidence
The plea agreement and related court filings allege Prater attempted to send a PDF containing information on more than 35,000 people he said were affiliated with Israeli government entities to someone he believed was connected to Hezbollah, prosecutors say. The document and other materials are cited in the plea paperwork and filings that local reporters reviewed and summarized. That reporting also says Prater painted an Iron Guard symbol in the parking lot before the fire; investigators have noted that symbol’s connection to other violent attacks, as reported by WBIR.
Court timeline and wider context
The case had been set for trial on April 14, 2026, but court records show a March deadline for filing any plea agreement and a final pretrial conference at the end of March, reflecting the schedule judges set when counsel asked for more time to review voluminous discovery, per US Courts records. The court documents also note Prater is in remote custody in Laurel County, Kentucky. National watchdog groups say the Highlander attack fits a pattern of violent plotting and rhetoric inside small online white-supremacist circles, as documented by the SPLC.
If the court accepts the plea, sentencing will follow under federal guidelines; no sentencing date has been made public yet. The agreement moves the Highlander case closer to resolution while renewing questions about online radicalization and the vulnerability of small historic institutions to ideologically motivated attacks.
